PHOENIX (CN) — Jewish Arizonans sued a cemetery over a new safety policy that prevents families from burying their loved ones according to Jewish law and customs.
Paradise Memorial Gardens, a Scottsdale cemetery with a section dedicated to Jewish burials, stopped lowering caskets in the presence of mourners after raising safety concerns about uneven ground near gravesites. Because Jewish tradition calls for mourners to witness the casket being lowered and help cover it with soil, the policy forces families to choose between burial alongside relatives and following their religious beliefs.
Three Jewish residents who purchased plots for their own burials filed a class action Friday, accusing the cemetery of consumer fraud and breach of contract by selling the plots with the implied understanding they would receive traditional Jewish burials…